Go Red, Wear Red for American Heart Month

A version of this blog post was first printed in 2017 on the Fit4Mom West Morris blog. A link to the blog is no longer available, so I am reprinting it here.

Several years ago I went to the doctor complaining of a sensation in my chest that felt like a pressure with the occasional fluttering. My doctor gave me an EKG (which my insurance wouldn't cover because it wasn't deemed medically necessary, but I digress), and my results were normal, thank goodness.

“It's probably acid reflux,” the doctor said.

And sure enough, later that night after drinking a soda, I burped and felt much better.

So no, I was not having a heart attack, and perhaps I may have overreacted a little bit to think that I could be having one, but heart disease kills one in three women every year and the warning signs for women are not the same as for men, so any sign or symptom cannot be ignored.

Earlier this month was National Wear Red Day, part of the American Heart Association's Go Red for Women campaign, which aims to raise both awareness about the issue of women and heart disease, and funds to support educational programs for women and scientific discoveries about heart health. On this day, everyone (women and men) are encouraged to wear red and help raise funds for Go Red for Women. (It's always the first Friday in February, if you want to prepare for next year.)

But don't just stop there. As women and mothers, we can't just wear red and say, “Yeah, I know I need to be heart healthy.” We actually have to do something about it. We may think that we don't have time to take care of ourselves because we are too busy taking care of everyone else in our families, but we can't take care of others if we don't take care of ourselves first.

So where do we start? Well, first you need to know your risk. Schedule a Well-Woman visit with your doctor to find out your Body Mass Index, cholesterol, blood pressure, and fasting blood sugar numbers, and then discuss with your doctor how these things may be affecting your health. No matter what your results, you might want to check out the American Heart Association's GoRed for Women website to find a lot of great tips for preventing heart disease.

Exercise is very important, as is watching what you eat. The American Heart Association has a whole section of its website dedicated to helping you eat smart. It recommends eating a variety of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy products, skinless poultry and fish, nuts and legumes, and non-tropical vegetable oils. Limit saturated fat, trans fat, sodium, red meat, sweets, and sugar-sweetened beverages.

It's also important to know the symptoms of a heart attack in women because they differ from those in men. Instead of extreme chest pain, women more often experience shortness of breath, nausea/vomiting, and back or jaw pain. Other symptoms could include dizziness, lightheadedness or fainting, pain in the lower chest or upper abdomen, and extreme fatigue. If you experience any of these symptoms, do not ignore them!

Heart disease is the number one killer of women, but through education and lifestyle changes, the American Heart Association says that 80 percent of cardiac events can be prevented.